Drawer latch



N 1965 w. J. MACHINGO ETAL 3,219,404

DRAWER LATCH Filed Feb. 18, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 FIG-1.. 5

FIG. 3. INVENTOR WILLIAM J.MACH1NGO RUDOLPH H. WILMER.

United States Patent 3,219,404 DRAWER LATCH William J. Machingo andRudolph H. Wilmer, Youngstown, Ohio, assignors to The GeneralFireproofing Company, Youngstown, Uhio, a corporation of Ohio Filed Feb.18, 1964, Ser. No. 345,710 5 Claims. (Cl. 312-303) This inventionrelates generally to filing apparatus and more particularly to a latchconstruction as used on filing drawers for retaining the drawers withina filing cabinet.

The present construction is an improvement over the latch mechanismdisclosed in Patent No. 2,648,585, dated August 11, 1953, and assignedto the same assignee as the present application. In the above referredto patent, a latch mechanism is illustrated for use in conjunction witha filing cabinet drawer of generally well-known construction wherein thefront of the drawer is hinged along its lower edge to the bottom of thedrawer and adapted for outward swinging movement to permit ready accessto the contents of the drawer when the drawer is open. In order toretain the drawer within the cabinet, a latch member was provided on theside of the drawer for engagement with a keeper inside the cabinet.

A principal deficiency in the above referred to prior construction isthat when the filing drawer is pushed to its closed position within thefiling case or cabinet, the latch mechanism, which projects outwardly inits locking position, strikes the front inside edge of the filing drawercabinet prior to arriving at its final engaged position behind thekeeper.

It is a recognized objective in the ofiice filing apparatus field thatthe maximum usable file drawer space must be obtained in combinationwith the minimum overall size of filing cabinet. In order to achievethis objective, somewhat close tolerances are necessary between thefiling drawers with their suspension means and the inner walls of thefiling case or cabinet. This requirement tends to magnify thepossibility of the above-described contact between the latch and edge ofthe cabinet particularly in the instance of larger size filing drawersand is even more apparent when such drawers are filled to capacity.These latter conditions would tend to increase the lateral displacementof the filing drawers as they are closed during retraction of thedrawers within the cabinet upon their suspension means, since even aminute sideways displacement of the drawer just prior to the finalclosing thereof within the cabinet causes the prior known type of latchmeans to come into glancing contact with the front inside edge of thefiling case.

The above-described problem has recently become even more objectionabledue to the current extensive use of light decorator colors so popular inofiice filing equipment. It will be appreciated that in such instanceswherein contact between the projecting latch member and the front of thecase mars the paint thereon, the appearance of the cabinet will be oneof an unsightly nature.

No feasible modification of the drawer or cabinet structure has beenfound which would obviate this deficiency since the drawer cabinets arealready constructed of the minimum possible thickness and no alterationof the drawer front itself would solve the problem since these drawerfronts are adapted to be flush-mounted within the cabinet, that is, tofit within the limits of the cabinet, rather than to overlie the frontedges thereof.

Accordingly, one of the objects of the present invention is to providean improved file drawer latch which is operated by inward swingingmovement of a drawer front to lock the drawer in a closed positionwithin a cabinet and which latch is released by outward swingingmovement of the drawer front to allow opening or withdrawal of thedrawer.

ice

Another object of the present invention is to provide a drawer latchcomprising a unitary spring member having a pair of longitudinal leaves.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a drawer latchhaving one leaf controlled by the opening and closing of a pivotaldrawer front and a second leaf adapted to cooperate with keeper meansdisposed within a filing cabinet for locking the drawer within thecabinet.

Still another object of the present invention is to provide a filedrawer latch adapted to be displaced towards the wall of a filingcabinet and into a locking position by a force acting in one direction,and including means permitting urging of said latch away from the wallof the filing cabinet during the locking operation.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, which will become morefully apparent as the nature of the invention is better understood, thesame consists in the novel features of construction, combination andarrangement of parts as are illustrated by way of example in theaccompanying drawings and as will be hereinafter more fully describedand claimed.

Similar reference characters designate corresponding parts throughoutthe several views of the drawings, where- FIGURE 1 is a partialperspective view of the front portion of a filing drawer and illustratesthe drawer latch constructed in accordance with the present invention.

FIGURE 2 is a vertical, longitudinal View, partly in section,illustrating the swingable drawer front in its open position and thelatch member of the present invention as seen from the interior of afile drawer.

FIGURE 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the drawer latch according tothe present invention as it appears when the drawer front is in its openposition as shown in FIG- URE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a horizontal sectional view of the drawer latch with thedrawer front in its closed position and the filing drawer is about to beclosed within the filing cabinet.

FIGURE 5 is a horizontal sectional view showing the drawer latch as itappears when the drawer is about to be fully closed within the cabinetand illustrating deflection of the locking leaf of the drawer latch awayfrom the opposed inner wall of the filing cabinet.

FIGURE 6 is a horizontal view, partly in section, showing the drawerlatch in its fully closed or locking position.

FIGURE 7 is a perspective view of the drawer latch of the presentinvention in its at-rest or normal unlocked position as it would appearwith the drawer retracted from the cabinet and the drawer front tiltedoutwardly.

FIGURE 8 is a perspective view of the drawer latch as it would appearwhen displaced laterally towards the inner wall of the filing cabinet inits locking position.

Referring now to the drawings, particularly FIGURES 1 and 2, it will beseen that the drawer latch, generally designated L, is especiallyadapted for use in combination with a filing drawer having a drawer heador front 1 pivotally attached by suitable hinge means to a drawer bottom2. Filing drawers of this type are well known in the art and asevidenced by the previously mentioned patent may include a frontfollower plate 3 which is pivotally attached to the forward part of thedrawer bottom 2. This construction, together with the attendantsupporting structures, permits automatic expansion of the storage areawithin the interior of the filing drawer upon opening of the filingdrawer head 1 since the drawer cannot be withdrawn from its cabinetuntil the drawer head 1 has been swung outwardly thereby allowingsimilar swinging movement of the front follower plate 3 to the positionshown in FIGURE 2. The reverse movement takes place during closing ofthe filing drawer, that is, the swingable drawer head 1 is swunginwardly to its vertical position together with the follower plate 3,thereby causing compression of the file drawer contents. Continuedpressure upon the drawer head 1 which is provided with suitable pullmeans 4, returns the file drawer to its storage position Within thefiling cabinet.

It will be understood that the specific structure forming the basis forthe above-described general operation forms no part of the presentinvention, but is merely recited to familiarize one with the environmentwithin which the present drawer latch construction is utilized.

Although the drawer latch L is illustrated as being attached to only oneside wall 5 of the filing drawer, it will be understood that either orboth of the sides 5 may be provided with the present latch L. In orderto properly orient and to suitably support the drawer latch upon theside 5 of the filing drawer, the latch L is preferably initiallyassembled upon a separate saddle plate 6 which may be considered toserve two purposes. First, it insures proper orientation of the lockingmeans included in the drawer latch with respect to the keeper meansfixedly disposed within the interior of the drawer cabinet or case,which is generally designated 74 This is most important since therelationship between the keeper means and the drawer latch is criticaland must remain constant to insure locking of the filing drawer withinits cabinet when the drawer is properly situated therein. Secondly, thesaddle plate 6 itself may be constructed of substantially thickermaterial than the side 5 of the filing drawer in order to provide thenecessary rigidity to the drawer latch to prevent minor undesirabledisplacement of the locking means of the latch with respect to saidkeeper means within the filing cabinet 7. It will be understood that thelatch L could be attached directly to the drawer side without anydeparture from the scope of the invention as the saddle plate isactually a part of the drawer side when attached thereto.

As shown most clearly in FIGURES 7 and 8, the drawer latch L comprises aunitary resilient member preferably of spring steel and includes alongitudinal control leaf 8 on the one hand and an off-set shorterlongitudinal locking leaf 9 on the other hand. Joining the two leaves isa transverse connecting web 10 permanently disposed offset to thevertical planes of the two leaves so that said leaves will be seen tolie in two distinctly different vertical planes. The latch L is disposedthrough an aperture 11 formed in the saddle plate 6 with the longercontrol leaf 8 exposed on the inner surface of the saddle plate and theoffset shorter locking leaf 9 positioned on the opposite or outer sideof the saddle plate as will be seen in FIG- URE 1. Besides permittinglateral displacement of the connecting web 10 through the saddle plateduring operation of the latch, the aperture 11 facilitates assembly ofthe drawer latch to the saddle plate. The spring latch is securelyanchored at its forward end 12 to the saddle plate by any suitable meanssuch as spot welding or by riveting as at 13. If riveting is employed,then the for- Wardmost end of the long control leaf 8 may be providedwith a hook portion 14 bent at right angles to the control leaf andadapted to pass through an opening 15 in the saddle plate in order tosecurely anchor the entire drawer latch to prevent possible rotationalmovement about the rivet 13 and also to serve as a reference pointduring assembly of the latch to the saddle plate.

Immediately to the rear of the rivet point 13, the long control leaf 8is bent away from the inner surface of the saddle plate to provide apermanent lateral displacement of the leaf 8 as will be most clearlyseen in FIGURES 3 and 7 wherein it will be noted that the control leafdiverges inwardly away from the line of the saddle plate. In this thenormal or unlocked position of the drawer latch, the offset shorterlocking leaf 9 is disposed in abutting relationship to the outside ofthe saddle plate 6. This shorter locking leaf 9 is provided on itsforwardmost end with a curved guiding pprtion 16 and on its oppositerearmost end with a bent tab portion 17 spaced substantially from themain body of the locking leaf 9. The purposes of the forwardmost guidingportion 16 and the offset tab 17 at the rear of the locking leaf 9 willbe described shortly hereinafter. Quite obviously the side wall 5 of thedrawer must be cut-away in the area of the control leaf and the tabportion 17.

The lowermost surface of the saddle plate 6 is provided with a bearingflange 18 which extends for a substantial portion of the length of thesaddle plate, while to the rear of the bearing flange 18 are disposed apair of spaced apart downwardly projecting flanges 19 and 20. Inassembling the saddle plate 6 equipped with the above-described drawerlatch, the plate is affixed to the outer surface of the filing drawerside 5 as shown in FIGURE 1 by any suitable means such as spot weldingthereto As above positioned, it will be apparent that the innermostflange 20 will abut the side 5 of the filing drawer. When the drawer asillustrated in FIGURE 1 is mounted within a filing cabinet, it will beunderstood that suitable conventional suspension means (not shown) asfound in known types of filing cabinets will be engaged by the twoflanges 19 and 20 while the forwardmost bearing flange 18 will rest uponthe suspension means.

The latch member L is actuated during opening and closing of the drawerhead by means of an inclined cam member 21 projecting outwardly from thewing 22 which is secured to the inner surface of the drawer head 1. Whenthe drawer head 1 is in its open or swung out position, the cam member21 is disposed forwardly of the long control leaf 8 of the latch memberL so as not to interfere with the latter assuming its normal unlockedposition wherein the short locking leaf 9 is disposed inwardly inabutting relationship to the outer surface of the saddle plate 6. Akeeper 23 adapted to cooperate with the locking leaf 9 projects inwardlyfrom the inner wall 24 of the filing case. This keeper 23 may assume anysuitable construction such as a welded projection or a struck-outportion from the inner wall 24 of the cabinet and is disposed in thesame vertical position as the short locking leaf 9 of the rectilinearlytraveling drawer latch L.

The transverse web 10 connecting the two leaves to each other extendsfrom a point adjacent the forward guiding portion 16 of the locking leaf9, rearwardly and in an increasing width for a substantial portion ofthe length of the locking leaf 9, and extends laterally through theaperture 11 in the saddle plate 6 to join the control leaf to thelocking leaf, as will be most clearly seen in FIG- URES 7 and 8. Thetransverse connecting web 10 is preferably disposed at an oblique angle,that is, it is slightly inclined downwardly from the lower edge of thelocking leaf 9 to the upper edge of the control leaf 8 for reasons whichwill become apparent hereinafter.

The mode of operation of the drawer latch may be readily comprehended byfollowing the sequence illustrated in FIGURES 3-6 which set forth thevarious stages of the latch actuation as a filing drawer is moved froman open position wherein the drawer head 1 is tilted outwardly, to afully closed position wherein the drawer head is closed and the filingdrawer is disposed within the filing case 7.

As shown in FIGURE 3, the drawer is withdrawn from the cabinet and thehead 1 is tilted outwardly together with its follower 3 so that one mayreadily remove or insert material within the interior of the drawer. Thecam member 21 integrally formed upon the outer surface of the wing 22will be tilted outwardly away from any contact with the control leaf ofthe drawer latch L. To close the file drawer, inward pressure appliedupon the outside of the head 1 will move the head from its swung-outposition to a vertical position, which movement causes the cam member 21to be moved inwardly against the outermost rounded free end 25 of thelong control leaf 8 thereby displacing this control leaf laterally andoutwardly until it is in abutting relationship with the inner surface ofthe saddle plate 6, thus appearing as Shown. in IGURE 4. At this point,it will be seen that the short locking leaf 9 has been displacedoutwardly away from the outside surface of the saddle plate 6 acorresponding degree, the outward or lateral displacement of this shortlocking leaf 9 being restrained by the limiting tab 17 abutting theinner surface of the saddle plate 6. The end of the guiding portion 16of the short locking leaf 9 is disposed within the aperture 11 and itwill follow that the edge of the keeper 23 will be guided smoothly intofrictional engagement with the outer surface of the locking leaf therebypreventing any sudden feeling of excessive resistance to the operatormanipulating the filing drawer into the cabinet.

As will be seen in FIGURE 4, the keeper will begin to engage the outersurface of the locking leaf well before the locking flange 26 at therearmost portion of the leaf 9 has approached the exposed forward edgeof the filing case 7. As soon as the keeper engages the locking leaf,the continued movement of the filing drawer into the case will forcedeflection of the leaf 9 inwardly towards the direction of the saddleplate 6 so that, as will be clearly seen in FIGURE 5, the leaf 9 and itslocking flange 26 will be displaced laterally away from its outwardlyprojecting position and a substantial amount of space will be formedbetween the outer surface of the rearmost edge of the locking leaf andthe inner wall 24 of the filing case 7, thereby assuring a suflicientclearance between these two elements to prevent any possible frictionalcontact therebetween and obviating mar-ring or damage of the finish onthe inner surface 24 of the cabint.

As the keeper 23 yieldingly engages the locking leaf as above describedit will be apparent that since the entire drawer latch L is of integralconstruction that means must be provided for absorption of this lateraldisplacement of a portion of the latch during the closing of the drawer.

FIGURE 5 clearly illustrates that just prior to the final lockingposition of the latch and when the leaf 9 is substantially deflectedtoward the outer surface of the saddle plate 6, that the medial portionof the long control leaf 8 is similarly displaced laterally or away fromthe inner surface of the saddle plate. It will be apparent that thislateral displacement of the control leaf 8 is confined between the rivetpoint 13 and the point of contact with the cam member 21 which isbiasing the forwardmost end of the control leaf against the insidesurface of the saddle plate. As previously mentioned, the transverseconnecting web is preferably disposed at an oblique angle inclinedupwardly from the control leaf 8 to the bottom of the locking leaf 9. Bythis construction it will be seen that the horizontal displacementagainst the locking leaf 9 caused by the fixed keeper 23 will not betransmitted in its entirety as a corresponding amount of horizontaldisplacement to the medial portion of the control leaf 8 since theoblique inclination of the connecting web 10 will absorb a portion ofthis displacement as an arcuate movement which will cause slightelevation of the locking leaf 9 as it is displaced inwardly towards theouter surface of the saddle plate 6.

The final locking action is achieved when the filing drawer is pushedfully into the cabinet with the outer surface of the drawer head 1substantially flush with the outer surface of the case 7. At this finalpoint the rear- Ward surface of the locking flange 26 will snap behindthe keeper 23 due to the resiliency stored up in the connecting web 10and outwardly bowed control leaf 8, and the structure will appear as inFIGURE 6.

The unlocking of the filing drawer from within the cabinet is but asingle step operation. The drawer pull 4 is grasped and the drawer head1 pulled outwardly to tilt the head into its swung out position. Thismovement causes the cam member 21 to be moved away from engagement withthe rear portion of the long control leaf 8. The drawer latch Limmediately assumes its normal or unlocked position, as shown in FIGURES3 and 7, thereby moving the locking flange 26 on the leaf 9 away fromits engaging position behind the keeper 23 so that continued withdrawalmovement upon the drawer pull 4 will retract the filing drawer fromwithin the cabinet with the locking leaf disposed in flush engagementwith the saddle plate.

What is claimed is:

1. A drawer latch of resilient material engageable by movable actuatingmeans mounted on the drawer and adapted to engage a keeper within a filecabinet, comprising, a longitudinal control leaf having means securingone end in relation to a side of the drawer, the opposite end of saidcontrol leaf normally disposed in a divergent direction from saidsecured end towards the interior of the drawer, a locking leaf disposedin a vertical plane offset from said control leaf and exposed on theexterior of the side of the drawer, a transverse web connecting saidcontrol and locking leaves, whereby, outward displacement of saidcontrol leaf by movement of said drawer-mounted actuating means willsimilarly displace one end of said locking leaf towards said keeper, andsaid locking leaf may be deflected by said keeper against the bias ofthe displaced control leaf to a locked position behind the keeper.

2. In a filing apparatus comprising, a cabinet having a drawer movablefrom an open to a closed position therein, keeper means inside thecabinet opposite the side of the drawer, and a swingable front on thedrawer; the improvement comprising, an integral latch member mounted onone side of said drawer, said latch member including a verticallydisposed control leaf and a locking leaf disposed in a vertical planeoffset and diverging from the plane of the control leaf, a transverseweb connecting said control and locking leaves, means attaching one endof said control leaf to said drawer side with the opposite free end ofsaid control leaf normally projecting inwardly towards the interior ofthe drawer, said web passing through an opening in the drawer side toretain said locking leaf in position on the outside of the drawer sideand normally in flush engagement therewith, and cam means operable bymovement of said drawer front, whereby, closing of said front engagessaid cam means with the free end of said control leaf to laterallydisplace the control leaf outwardly towards the drawer side andconcurrently displaces said locking leaf away from the inside of thedrawer side into the path of said keeper means.

3. A drawer latch according to claim 2, wherein, said connecting Web isof greater width at one end thereof and said locking leaf when displacedby said cam means projects in a divergent direction from the drawerside.

4. A drawer latch according to claim 2, wherein, said locking leafincludes an offset locking flange at one end thereof.

5. A drawer latch according to claim 4, wherein, said olfset flange isprovided with means on one end thereof limiting the lateral displacementof said locking leaf from the drawer side.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 12/1933 Brainard312-303 8/1935 Straubel 312303

1. A DRAWER LATCH OF RESILIENT MATERIAL ENGAGEABLE BY MOVABLE ACTUATINGMEANS MOUNTED ON THE DRAWER AND ADAPTED TO ENGAGE A KEEPER WITHIN A FILECABINET, COMPRISING, A LONGITUDINAL CONTROL LEAF HAVING MEANS SECURINGONE END IN RELATION TO A SIDE OF DRAWER; THE OPPOSITE END OF SAIDCONTROL LEAF NORMALLY DISPOSED IN A DIVERGENT DIRECTION FROM SAIDSECURED END TOWARDS THE INTERIOR OF THE DRAWER, A LOCKING LEAF DISPOSEDIN A VERTICAL PLANE OFFSET FROM SAID CONTROL LEAF AND EXPOSED ON THEEXTERIOR OF THE SIDE OF THE DRAWER, A TRANSVERSE WEB CONNECTING SAIDCONTROL AND LOCKING LEAVES, WHEREBY, OUTWARD DISPLACEMENT OF SAIDCONTROL LEAF BY MOVEMENT OF SAID DRAWER-MOUNTED ACTUATING MEANS WILLSIMILARLY DISPLACE ONE END OF SAID LOCKING LEAF TOWARDS SAID KEEPER, ANDSAID LOCKING LEAF MAY BE DEFLECTED BY SAID KEEPER AGAINST THE BIAS OFTHE DISPLACED CONTROL LEAF TO A LOCKED POSITION BEHIND THE KEEPER.